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Maynard then quit taking yet more money from Achicha in the form of a severance package, Gloucester Crown Court was told on February 22.

He admitted fraud against the company - whose accountants are based in Cheltenham - between May 20, 2010 and September 30, 2013.

Jailing him, Mr Justice Dingemans said: "You deluded yourself that you would be able to repay this money but you were not able to repay and you continued to take yet more money, using the company as a supplement to your income.

"You were going through an expensive divorce and you had difficulties with your stepson. You used some of the money to buy him a house next door to your home.

"Achicha Ltd got into financial difficulties in late 2013 and you left in early 2014 with a severance package.

"You had been a successful finance officer in the past but you had begun to live beyond your means.

"You are, however, plainly a person about whom a lot of good can be said."

The judge passed a three years and four months sentence on Maynard and told him he will have to return to court on July 30 for a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

John Maynard has been jailed for fraud

Prosecutor Stephen Thomas said Maynard had started work for the firm, which employs 110 staff, in 2009.

"He was employed first as head of finance, then company secretary and from 2011 onwards was the chief financial officer," he said.

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"He had a significant and important role in terms of managing the finances of the company. Although not a director, he was a very senior member of the management.

"From 2013, he was discussing with the directors the terms for him leaving with a severance package in early 2014. He was to continue in a consultancy role to help with the end of year audit."

Mr Thomas said a sample of the accounts was scrutinised as part of the audit process and a £2,000 payment Maynard had made to his stepson was found. He had repaid it ten days later.

A further payment of £166,000 to a mortgage company in February 2013 was then discovered. It was a payment to purchase a former pub next door to Maynard's home. Maynard had repaid it nine months later.

However, a further £120,000 was discovered in that period which had not been repaid by Maynard, Mr Thomas said.

Maynard was confronted and admitted he had taken money and paid it to himself, his wife or his stepson.

"Further checks were made and it was found that, going back to 2010, a period of three and a half years, a total of 40 payments had been authorised by him to himself, his wife or stepson.

"It was found that at the end of the months, when he was paying his salary of about £6,000, he would pay it twice.

"He said he had been intending to pay the money back by selling the pub he had purchased. Some of the money had been used for renovations, he said."

Mr Thomas said the firm sued Maynard in the civil courts and judgement for £619,000 - including costs and interest - was made against him.

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"He finds himself at the age of 61 with his character so damaged that he is now unemployable," he said.

"He is in a dire financial situation, bankrupt. At the end of his working life, he finds himself not just in the civil courts but the criminal courts facing a prison sentence."

Mr Hussain urged the court to pass a suspended sentence as Maynard has already had almost four years with the case hanging over him.

But the judge said it was too serious a case for him to be able to pass a sentence short enough to qualify for suspension.

Probation officer Jo Hall, who interviewed Maynard before the hearing, said the offences stemmed from him not having the lifestyle he had enjoyed in the past - and having to struggle to pay a £100,000 divorce settlement.